I have to say, today was a good day

No one will be cheering louder as the cars start crossing the finish line at tomorrow's Indy Car race at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway then yours truly.  I am so grateful for the opportunites that Dean's part-time work with Firestone provide our family, the wonderful people we have met, the great time that I know Dean has when he is working, etc.  But.  I MISS MY HUSBAND.  He works a lot of hours as it is at his full-time job so the extra trips with Firestone wear on the boys and I and I just want him home.  What can I say, we love the guy and feel a huge void when he is gone.  It is fitting that this race year end with a long trip and Dean being gone five days and five nights.  Boo. 
After being crabby for two days and moping around, I decided enough was enough.  There is fun to be had, even with daddy gone.  So we were going to have fun today, darn it!

The day started off freezing our tushies off at Joey's 9 a.m. soccer game.  Joey loves playing soccer and today his passion and hard work translated into a GOAL!  His last goal this season, quite honestly, was kind of a fluke.  His foot connected with the ball at the exact right time, right in front of the goal, and the ball crossed the line.  It definitely counted, but today's goal was a thing of beauty with Joey kicking the ball away from the crowd of kids trying to get it and then breaking away from the group and charging straight down the field with a sweet but confident kick through the net.  Way to go Joey!!  Ben had the biggest smile on his face and looked up at me "that was sweet!"  I wish Joey could have seen how proud of him his big brother was.

Following the soccer game we met up with Nana and headed to our favorite pumpkin patch.  The boys and I laughed at our uncany ability to always pick the coldest day of the fall to go pick out our pumpkins.  The patch was definitely chilly but we had a great time. 

The boys climbed the haystack,

posed for a picture with Nana (of course Nana was the cow!),

Ben checked out the spooky strawbale maze,

and we all navigated the corn maze.
Ben rode some tractor bicycles and Joey checked out the tractor slide,

and then it was time to board the hayride and head out to the pumpkin patch.

As always, Joe didn't see a pumpkin he didn't like and we had to keep reminding him that he got to pick two (one to carve and one to paint...though he somehow hustled Nana into five or six I think, funny how that works!) and Ben couldn't make up his mind.  He looked and looked and looked and finally found one that he actually was able to pull off the vine, which I think was the big selling point of that particular pumpkin.

We hustled home to drop Nana off (she was meeting great-grandma for a doctor's appointment) and then the boys and I headed to Steak n' Shake for lunch.  We were all sleepy but starving so we enjoyed the food and decided to head home for some snuggling on the couch and to watch our new favorite movie, The Sandlot. 

As I type this, Ben is playing across the street and Joey is happily painting one of his small pumpkins.  Life is good, and though I still wish Dean was here, it is nice to know that the boys and I can still have fun on our own!